THE MENTOR
HOLLAND

MONTALBANS TOWER, AMSTERDAM

 ONE 

The history of Holland is a record of the unexpected.
One might think that this flat country would have a
story as monotonous as the land on which it is
built, that it would be the last part of the world to
be the center of fierce battles and bloody wars. Yet there
took place in this little country, formed principally of the mud
deposited by three rivers, the Rhine, the
Meuse, and the Schelde, some of the most
important deeds in the history of the
world.

The earliest inhabitants of this part of
Europe are said to have been some of the
barbarians that accompanied the Cimbri
and Teutons in their expedition against
Italy. The Romans, however, held sway
over this district until near the end of the
fourth century, when the Franks took possession
and settled there. Later the Holy
Roman Emperor Charlemagne extended
his supremacy over the whole of the Netherlands,
and under his successors a system
of dividing the land among the vassal
princes gradually developed. Thus the
feudal system grew up.

The situation of the country on the
ocean and the mouths of three great rivers
invited the people to commerce. Then,
also, the big cities grew up and surrounded
themselves with strong forts.

In 1477 the Netherlands came into possession
of the House of Hapsburg by the
marriage of Mary of Burgundy, the daughter
of Charles the Bold, with Maximilian,
afterward emperor of the Holy Roman
Empire. Their son, Philip the Handsome,
was the father of Charles V, who subsequently
became King of Spain. Under his
rule the Netherlands enjoyed a golden era
of prosperity; but during the reign of his
bigoted son, Philip II, there began that
apparently hopeless struggle of the weak
people of the north against the haughty
Spaniards, which lasted for eighty years
and which ended in the establishment of
the powerful Dutch republic. The great
founder of Dutch liberty was William of
Nassau, the Silent. Today he is revered
by the Dutch as a mighty hero and martyr.

It was in 1579 that the Union of Utrecht
laid the foundation on which the republic
of the United Netherlands was to be
raised. By the Peace of Westphalia in
1648 the independence of the United
Provinces was recognized.

The prosperity of Holland was great.
Its navigators explored the most distant
coasts in the world, and its trading posts
in East India yielded a rich harvest. It
had commerce with all nations, and at the
same time its art reached its highest point
of excellence.

For many years the fortunes of the
Netherlands varied from good to bad. In
1795 the French Republicans took possession
of the country and founded the
Batavian republic. In 1806 Louis Bonaparte
was created king of Holland by his
brother Napoleon. Four years later Napoleon
annexed Holland to France, giving as
the reason his belief that it was formed of
the alluvial deposit of French rivers. At
last, in November, 1813, the French were
expelled from Holland; and in 1815, by
the Congress of Vienna, the southern or
Belgian province of the Netherlands was
united with the northern into a single
kingdom, and the Prince of Orange was
created king of the Netherlands under the
title of William I. This union was severed
by the Belgian revolution of 1830. Ten
years later, William I abdicated in favor
of his son William II, who was in turn
succeeded by William III.

His daughter Wilhelmina is the present
ruler of Holland. Her daughter, Princess
Juliana, was born April 30, 1909.

VEEN KADE, THE HAGUE

 TWO 

William the Silent is to Holland what George
Washington is to the United States. As the principal
opponent of Philip II of Spain he was the very
incarnation of the national spirit in the greatest
period of Dutch history. He dared to stand forth as the fearless
leader of a persecuted people in opposition to the mightiest
monarch then on earth. William, Prince
of Orange and Count of Nassau, was surnamed
“The Silent” not because he was
gloomy, but because he was able to hide
his plans with wonderful discretion. He
was born on April 16, 1533. He was a great
favorite of Charles V of Spain, who appointed
him, when he was only twenty-two
years old, governor of the provinces
of Holland, Zealand, and Utrecht. When
the Low Countries came into possession
of the Duke of Alva, the Spanish governor,
William set out on a short but useless campaign
to liberate the southern provinces.
Four years later he was invited by Holland
and Zealand to command their troops
against the Spaniards. Shortly afterward
he captured Middelburg and succeeded in
raising the siege of Leyden. The Union of
Utrecht, the famous defensive league of
the North Netherlands, was formed in
1579. Soon afterward William was exiled
by Philip II; but the States General defied
his authority, and in 1581 formally
threw off their allegiance to the Spanish
crown.

However, so anxious was Philip to have
William out of the way that he offered a
reward of 25,000 crowns and a title of
nobility to anyone who would assassinate
him. Many were the cowardly attacks
made against the brave Dutchman, eight
attempts being made before the one that
finally succeeded.

On July 10, 1584, William, in company
with his beautiful young wife, was coming
to dinner down the stairway of the Prinsenhof—his
house in Delft. Suddenly
from the corner of the corridor a man
stepped forth holding a petition. The
prince asked him to present it later when
he was not busy. During the meal William
was as usual very cheerful; but his wife
seemed to have a premonition of danger.
She spoke to him several times of the
strange man they had met in the hall, remarking
that she had never seen a more
villainous face. This did not disturb
William in the least, and at the close of the
meal he led the way back along the corridor.
As he approached the staircase,
without a moment’s warning the assassin
sprang forth and shot him in the breast.
The prince reeled backward a few steps
and fell into the arms of his wife. A few
minutes later the founder of Dutch liberty
had passed into history.

William the Silent was the foremost
statesman of his time. He gave up great
position, vast wealth, and at last his life,
to rescue the Netherlands from the tyrannical
power of Spain; and he had the satisfaction
of knowing before he died that
the cause for which he had suffered so
much would succeed.

His murderer, Balthazar Gerard, was
executed by having the flesh torn from his
body with redhot pincers.

STREET SCENE, AMSTERDAM

 THREE 

Amsterdam has often been called “The Venice of
the North.” Between the two cities there is a resemblance;
but they also differ from each other
essentially. Venice is golden; while Amsterdam is
gray. Venice inspires romantic memories and poetical
associations; Amsterdam, even with its many attractions,
is distinctly practical and commercial.

Amsterdam is a seaport in the province
of North Holland. It is one of the chief
commercial cities in Europe and the largest
city in the kingdom of Holland. It is
one of the wealthiest cities in the world.

Amsterdam stands on flat, marshy
ground into which piles fifty feet long are
driven to form the foundations of brick
houses, which are usually six or seven
stories high. The form of the city is a
crescent, and the arms of its canals project
into the Y.

Amsterdam is really a city founded upon
islands, ninety in all. It has miles of
liquid streets, which are spanned by three
hundred bridges. All through the city
float heavy barges, many of which are the
homes of citizens.

Among some classes of the Dutch it is
customary, when a young man has saved
or borrowed enough money, to buy a
huge, broad-shouldered boat and install
therein not only his entire family, but also
his poultry, hogs, and even cows. From
then on he is independent, and master of
his own floating house, stable, farmyard,
and express wagon. He transports loads
of merchandise from town to town, and is
in a small way even a farmer. When he
moors his boat to take his wares from
house to house he uses a cart, and to draw
this cart he employs dogs. When the
merchandise is sold the driver calmly seats
himself in the cart and makes his patient
animals pull him home. If he does not
own a dog, he merely puts the yoke upon
the shoulders of his wife, and she acts as a
willing steed.

The little houses in the vicinity of Amsterdam
are thoroughly characteristic of
Holland. They have sharply pointed
roofs of pretty red tiles, neatly painted
walls and blinds, and a monstrous windmill
on one side. Within they are scoured
and polished so that they almost shine
with cleanliness. Even among the
wealthy citizens of Amsterdam there is
not much display of luxury. The houses
are quite plain, but always brightly clean.

To most people who are used to paved
streets and plenty of dry land it would not
be pleasant to dwell among the watery
streets with their narrow sidewalks of Amsterdam;
but to a Dutchman it is impossible
to have too much water about his
house. Even with a canal in front and
another on each side he will add, if possible,
an artificial pond in his small
garden.

STREET SCENE, ROTTERDAM

 FOUR 

Rotterdam, the famous commercial center of Holland,
lies fourteen miles from the North Sea at the
union of two rivers, one of which is called the Rotte,
and with the great dam erected on its banks gives
to the town its name. To a visitor the most notable feature
of this great Dutch city is its multitude of bridges, most of
which are drawbridges, continually rising
and falling like parts of a huge machine.

Rotterdam received its first municipal
privileges in 1340. Its modern prosperity
dates from the separation of Belgium from
the kingdom of the Netherlands. The
largest seagoing ships can now be admitted
to the quays of the town. Great cargoes
of oil, grain, coffee, tobacco, and coal pass
through it, and its cattle market is the
most important in Holland.

It is a remarkable fact that in Rotterdam
almost every man one meets has
either a cigar or a pipe in his mouth. The
Dutch are great smokers. It is said that
the boatmen measure distances not by
miles, but by pipefuls. Many of the natives
are believed to sleep at night with
their pipes between their teeth, so that
they may have their morning smoke without
any delay. The Hollanders call tobacco
smoke their second breath, and a
cigar the sixth finger of their hands.

In Rotterdam is situated the home of the
greatest smoker that the world has ever
known, Meinheer Van Klaes. His average
consumption was one hundred and fifty
grams of tobacco a day. Nevertheless he
lived to be ninety-eight years old. His
directions as to how his funeral should be
conducted are interesting: “I wish that
all my friends who are smokers shall be
specially invited to my funeral. Each of
them shall receive a package of tobacco
and two pipes, and they are requested to
smoke uninterruptedly during the funeral
ceremonies. My body shall be inclosed in
a coffin lined with wood of my old cigar
boxes. Beside me in the casket shall be
laid my favorite meerschaum, a box of
matches, and a package of tobacco.
When my body is lowered into the grave
every person present is requested to pass
by and cast upon it the ashes from his
pipe.”

It is said that these requests were faithfully
complied with. There is also a report
which says that at his funeral the smoke
was so dense that a horn had to be blown
to enable the mourners to find the door.

Rotterdam suffered from a great fire in
1563, and also underwent great loss during
the struggle with the Spaniards who
occupied the city in 1572. Since 1573,
however, its progress has been remarkable.

SCENE IN HAARLEM

 FIVE 

Spring is the best time to visit Haarlem in Holland.
The traveler to this city passes through wonderful
fields covered with broad sheets of scarlet, white,
and yellow tulips. It is a sight never to be forgotten.
But, beautiful as the tulips are, it is not for this that the Hollanders
grow them in such quantities. They grow the bulb not
for the flower but for the “onion,” as it is
called.

The cultivation of tulips is a great business
in Holland; but today only a small
percentage of the population commercialize
the flower, compared to the number
that cultivated it in the seventeenth century.
The tulipomania of that time was
really a form of gambling, in which admiration
of the flower and interest in its
culture were secondary matters. In those
days thousands of florins were paid for a
single bulb.

Tulips grow wild along the northern
shores of the Mediterranean, and in Africa
and the Far East. They were introduced
into the Low Countries in the sixteenth
century from Constantinople and the Levant.
Owing to their great beauty the
flowers became immediate favorites in
European gardens. It was in 1637 that
the extraordinary tulipomania first took
possession of the Dutch. Not only were
flower merchants seized with it, but almost
every citizen took up tulip growing.
A single bulb called the “Semper Augustus”
was sold for thirteen thousand florins,
and for another of the same variety
was traded “a new carriage, a pair of gray
horses, and forty-six hundred guilders.”
A prize of one hundred thousand florins
offered by the horticultural society at
Haarlem was won by the black tulip of
Cornelius van Baerle. But when the government
stepped in and enforced a law
against gambling the price of tulips fell to
nothing. The bubble burst, and thousands
of dealers were beggared in a single
night.

There is an old Dutch proverb which
says, “God made the sea; but we make
the shore.” For hundreds of years the
Hollanders have proved this true by literally
making the land upon which they
live. They must continually fight against
the encroachment of the sea, and a big
factor in the work of keeping the ocean
out is done by great windmills, which
pump the water from the fields into the
rivers and canals, and thus drain the land.

Everywhere in Holland windmills can
be seen. Besides pumping and draining,
they also saw wood and grind corn. Although
nowadays steam and gasolene engines
can do most of the work formerly
performed by windmills, they still form a
picturesque part of the Dutch landscape.
By draining whole marshes they have
transformed this waste land into beautiful
green and fertile fields. In passing from
The Hague to Haarlem on the train one
can see the largest of these “polders,” as
the drained marshes are called.

Windmills were used as early as the
twelfth century. In all the older windmills
a shaft called the wind shaft carried four
to six arms or whips, on which long, narrow
sails were spread. The tips of the
sails made a circle of sixty to eighty feet in
diameter. It is this type of windmill, with
its long arms waving above the landscape,
that is associated so closely with Holland.

RYKS MUSEUM, AMSTERDAM

 SIX 

Many people consider Dutch art the most interesting
in the world. The artists of Holland did not portray
classic gods and prayerful madonnas. They were
too practical and matter-of-fact for that. Their
minds were serious, and scenes of everyday life attracted
them more than they did the artists of Italy or Spain. Portrait
painting began very early among the
Dutch. This was because the Dutch spirit
was essentially commercial. The prosperous
burghers liked to have great artists
paint them, and they were usually willing
to pay pretty well for the privilege. Also
the nobility, due to their love of splendor,
gave abundant employment to the artists.

Some of the earlier Dutch artists who
achieved fame are the brothers Van Eyck,
Hugo van der Goes, Roger van der Weyden,
and Quentin Massys. But greater
than any of these is Frans Hals, who was
born in 1580. He was a great portrait
painter. His marvelous capacity for
catching an impression on the instant
brought him many patrons. He loved to
paint people as they were, and jolly topers
and rich burghers were his favorite subjects;
but, great artist though he was, he
died almost in poverty.

Rembrandt Harmanzoon van Rijn, who
was born in 1607, the son of a miller of
Leyden, has been called the greatest
painter of northern Europe. Today his
pictures are beyond price. His influence
on the Dutch artists that followed him
was very great. But he died at the age of
sixty-two, alone and neglected.

Paul Potter, called the “Raphael of animal
painters,” was born in 1625, and died
from overwork at the age of twenty-nine.
It is said that he painted portraits of animals,
and tried to know the character of
every beast that he drew.

Jan Steen painted all sorts of subjects,—chemists
in their laboratories, card parties,
marriage feasts, religious subjects,
and especially children. Besides being a
successful artist, he was a brewer at Delft.
He failed in this business and opened a
tavern. Hence he has often been called
“the jolly landlord of Leyden.”

Pieter de Hooch was the most neglected
of all Dutch painters; yet in 1876 the
Berlin Museum paid $26,000 for one of his
paintings. He was born in Rotterdam
about 1630, and became one of the most
charming painters of homely subjects
that Holland has produced. He died at
Haarlem about 1681.

Meyndert Hobbema was born in Amsterdam
about 1638, and was buried there
in a pauper’s grave in 1709. Although
today he is considered one of the great
landscape painters of Holland, his work
was not appreciated during his lifetime.
Hobbema liked to paint only landscapes.
It is said that when it was necessary for
him to get a figure in a picture he had another
artist do it.

All these men were great artists of Holland.
And it is a peculiar thing that most
of them lived in the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries. Since then Holland has
done comparatively little in art.

PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION
ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 2. No 6. SERIAL No. 58
COPYRIGHT, 1914, BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC.

The Mint Tower, Amsterdam

HOLLAND
By DWIGHT L. ELMENDORF

Lecturer and Traveler

THE MENTOR · DEPARTMENT OF TRAVEL · MAY 1, 1914

MENTOR GRAVURES

• THE RYKS MUSEUM, AMSTERDAM
• VEEN KADE, THE HAGUE
• STREET SCENE, ROTTERDAM
• STREET SCENE, AMSTERDAM
• MONTALBANS TOWER, AMSTERDAM
• SCENE IN HAARLEM

Holland has been described as a “country of unpainted pictures.”
That is the artist’s point of view; for his eye takes in the
picturesque possibilities of the subject. To us it seems as if Holland
is of all countries the one most often seen in pictures. While, no
doubt, there are many “untouched pictures” in the miles of level Dutch
landscape, art has surely shown a generous recognition of Holland’s attractive
scenery, and has celebrated its picturesqueness to all the rest of
the world. Holland is a country of dikes and level meadow lands, of windmills
and canals. From the point of view of an aëronaut the Dutch cities look
like a map of Mars. This is especially true of Amsterdam, which, viewed
from above, appears to be a network of canals. These canals are an attractive
feature of the cities. In some cases the whole street is canal; in other
cases the street is both “wet and dry”—a canal flanked by a street.

Copyright, American Press Association

“THE HOUSE IN THE WOOD,” THE HAGUE

This is Queen Wilhelmina’s favorite place of
residence. It is located in the forest park about
one and a half miles from The Hague, and
was the meeting place of the first International
Peace Conference, held in 1899

Imagine a country, in some spots lower than the sea, maintaining its
existence only by constant vigilance and industry, fighting for its very life
through the changing seasons against
the one great enemy, water. The
dunes or sand hills which line the coast
serve as a barrier against the sea.
These are reinforced by coarse grass,
which holds the sand together. In
some places the dikes are made of earth,
sand, and clay, held together by willows,
which are carefully planted so
as to form a binder. In other places
dikes are built of stone. The dikes are
the fortifications against the inroads of
the ocean, and also the floods in the
rivers that flow through Holland to
the sea.

Copyright, American Press Association

HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT, THE HAGUE

With the Queen’s Fish Pond in the
foreground

When there are heavy rains in Germany
the Rhine brings down a great
additional volume of water, which has
to be checked by the dikes and led
away by the canals. Holland’s fight
against water has been a warfare of
varying fortunes. At times in the
past dikes have been broken, great
tracts of land have been inundated,
and thousands of people drowned.

The Dutch are a careful, plodding,
and industrious people, and they have
profited by experience. As a result
they are now not only holding their
water enemy in check, but they have
actually advanced upon the sea, and
have taken from it sufficient territory
to add materially to their cultivated
lands. But the contest with the rivers
and the sea has to be constant. A
special body of engineers is appointed
to look after the work, and the Dutch
government spends annually several
million dollars to keep the dikes in
order and hold the ground. Water is
confined in canals and in large basins;
and the ever-faithful windmill, when
not otherwise engaged, is employed to
pump the water from the lowlands.

DIKES AND WINDMILLS

The dikes and the windmills are the two great factors of physical and
commercial life in Holland. The dike safeguards the land; the windmill
fans the currents of trade. Whether corn is to be ground, timber sawed,
tobacco cut, paper manufactured, or water pumped, the long arms of the
mill perform a willing and efficient service while the wind blows. The importance
of the dike is reflected in the names of many Dutch towns. The
word dam or dike is to be found almost everywhere. Amsterdam is the
“dike” of the River Amstel (ahm´-stel); Rotterdam, the “dike” of the
River Rotte; Zaandam (zahn-dahm´), the “dike” of the River Zaan—and
so on. The
thought of the protecting
dike was
generally in mind
when a town was
founded. The windmill
is not only an
untiring servant of
industry, but is a
sign of Dutch prosperity
as well. You
may hear it said of
a Hollander, “He is
worth ten millions.”
You are quite as
likely to hear it
said, “He is worth
ten windmills.”

THE ROYAL PALACE, AMSTERDAM

The palace, formerly the town hall, was begun in 1648, finished in 1655,
and cost 8,000,000 florins. It rests on a foundation of 13,659 piles, and
its tower is 167 feet high. The weather vane on the tower represents a
merchant vessel, formerly the crest of the city

It required
dogged determination
and persevering
energy to make the history of Holland. The Dutch people successfully
resisted Spanish domination at a time when Spain was a supreme
world power, and then they built up a government of their own in a
country where they had to fight for the very existence of the land. In
government administration, in thrift and commercial enterprise, in exploration
and colonization, in literature, and in arts, Holland has proved
herself to be a wonderful little country. She has had much to say in
the Congress of Nations. One of her chief cities, The Hague, is identified
in everyone’s mind with one of the most important world movements
of modern times,—the International Peace Conference.

The population of Holland does not exceed 6,000,000, and there are
only four towns having a population exceeding 100,000,—Amsterdam,
The Hague, Rotterdam (rot´-er-dam; Dutch, rot-ter-dahm´), and Utrecht
(u´-trekt; Dutch, oo´-trekt).

AMSTERDAM

This most interesting city is situated where the River Amstel enters
the Zuyder Zee (zy´-der zee; Danish, zoi´-der zay). Just where the city
lies there is an arm of the sea which goes by the odd name of Y or Ij (pronounced
eye). Amsterdam is the chief commercial city of Holland; though
in some branches of business Rotterdam disputes its supremacy. The city
is of odd, semicircular shape, and is intersected
by canals, which run in curves like
the rows of seats in an amphitheater. Each
of these semicircular canals marks the line
of the city walls and moat at different times.
Other canals cross these in such a manner as
to cut the city up into a number of islands.
The old part of the city lies in the very
center, inclosed by the inner semicircular
canal. At one end of this canal is the
“Weepers’ Tower,” which takes its name
from the fact that it stands at the head of
what was the old harbor, and was the scene,
therefore, in ancient times, of many sad
leavetakings. There wives and sweethearts
said goodby to the men who went “down to
the sea in ships.”

THE GATE OF THE STADTHOLDER,
THE HAGUE

THE NEW THEATER, AMSTERDAM

Amsterdam is supposed to have originated
about 1204, when Gysbrecht II,
Lord of Amstel,
built a castle
there. It came
to be really important
about
the end of the
sixteenth century,
when the
wars with Spain
had ruined Antwerp,
and many
merchants,
manufacturers,
and artists left
there and settled
in Amsterdam.
The population
of the city
today is close to
600,000, and it is
one of the busiest
markets in Europe,
doing a large business
in imports, especially
in the
products of the
Dutch colonies.

Copyright, American Press Association

PALACE OF PEACE, THE HAGUE

The city, moreover,
is very beautiful.
The main
canals are lined
with avenues of
elms, and they offer
a picturesque appearance and a pleasant
shade. The streets are full of life, and their
interest is enhanced by the varied activities
of those who walk and ride on the paved
roads and others who ply oddly constructed
boats through the waterways.

A CITY BUILT ON PILES

The costumes, while not so picturesque
as those to be found in the country districts,
are interesting to the traveler from other
lands. The houses are built on piles driven
into the soft soil—a fact that the witty old
Erasmus of Rotterdam turned to jest by
saying that he knew a city whose inhabitants
dwelt in the tops of trees like rooks.

There are so many things in Amsterdam
of historic, literary, and art interest
that no one can expect to “do the city”
and do it thoroughly in the brief time
usually allotted by the ordinary tourist.
For the student of art there is enough
to fill a month’s time. The home
city of Rembrandt naturally holds the interest
of an artist, and the Ryks Museum contains a wonderful collection
of Dutch art and Historic relics.

Copyright, American Press Association

THE RIDDERZAAL, THE HAGUE

The old Ridderzaal on the Brennenhof
is the ancient castle of the counts of Holland.
The most modern improvements,
such as electricity and telephones,
have been installed in this ancient
structure. The grand assembly hall seats
two hundred and eighty, and is lighted
by eight immense chandeliers of antique
style, containing fifty-four lights each

RYKS MUSEUM

This museum is an impressive stone and brick building, constructed in
1877-1885, and filling nearly three acres of ground. It holds a place among
the greatest museums of the world, and in its devotion to its own particular
subject—Dutch art and history—it is unique. It is not the lover of
art alone who will find the place fascinating: the historian will be held by
the military, naval, and
colonial collection; the
antiquarian will linger
over the old works in gold
and silver, the models of
ships of different periods,
antique books and furniture,
textiles and stained
glass; while the artist will
regard the picture galleries
as a treasure house.

For the artist, if interested
in the Dutch
masters of art, the museum
is the one particular
place in Europe. There
about him he will find
some of the most celebrated
works of Rembrandt,
Franz Hals, Paul
Potter, Jan Steen (stane),
Hobbema (hob´-be-mah),
and other Dutch painters.

The picturesque old
buildings of Amsterdam,
especially those in the
inner city, will delight the
visitor. Many of these
have great historic interest—notable among them Admiral de Ruyter’s
(ry´-ter; Dutch, roi´-ter) house, bearing his portrait in relief on its front,
and a little beyond that the old Montalbans Tower.

Copyright, Underwood & Underwood

A STREET IN AMSTERDAM

The Royal Palace is a solid building which was begun in 1648, just
after the Peace of Westphalia, and was finished in the course of seven
years at a cost of 8,000,000 florins ($3,216,000). It is not a beautiful
building; but in its structure and its inner equipments it is interesting
as showing the character of Dutch life and government. You bring from
a visit to the palace an impression of the solidity, power, and the
enduring virtues that are the ancestral inheritance of the Hollander.

No visit to Amsterdam is complete without a sight of the Zoölogical
Garden, which is one of the best in Europe, and a trip out to the unique
little Island of Marken. There in that odd spot you will find all the picturesqueness
of Holland in solid deposit. Gaily colored costumes are
everywhere; houses are queer in structure and in furnishing; and manners
and habits of life are peculiar and interesting. But let the visitor be
cautious in Marken. It has of recent years come to be a show place,
stocked with all sorts of Dutch articles of no special value, most of which
are manufactured solely to catch the fancy of the unwary tourist.

HAARLEM

On returning from Marken the traveler will find it worth his while
to run west to the quaint
old town of Haarlem
(hahr´-lem). This is the
city of the governor of
the province of North
Holland, and is one of
the cleanest and neatest
towns in the Netherlands.
Its population is something
over 70,000, and it
has the appearance of prosperity
and welfare. During
the Middle Ages, Haarlem
was the residence of
the counts of Holland, and
was the scene of several
important military engagements
between the Dutch and the Spaniards. It is famous for its
horticulture, and furnishes bulbs to every country in Europe and North
America. Along about the middle of spring a wonderful sight may be
seen in the lands surrounding Haarlem. Whole fields of hyacinths,
crocuses, anemones, tulips, lilies, etc., offer a brilliant variety of color
and fill the air with delicious perfume. It is a feast for the senses indeed!

Copyright, American Press Association

SAINT NICHOLAS CHURCH, AMSTERDAM

ROTTERDAM

Situated about thirty miles south of Amsterdam and Haarlem is
Rotterdam, the second largest town in the Netherlands, which has a
population of about 370,000. To some it is known chiefly as the home of
the illustrious Erasmus, who was born there in 1465. In the great marketplace
of Rotterdam there stands a fine bronze statue of Erasmus.

To merchants Rotterdam is known as one of the busiest import cities on
the Continent; as in
its import trade it
is exceeded only by
Hamburg and Antwerp,
while its cattle
market is the most
important in Holland.
There is much
life in Rotterdam, and
plenty of entertainment
to enliven the
visitor who goes there
for other purposes
than those of trade.

THE POSTOFFICE, ROTTERDAM

Boyman’s Museum contains a most valuable collection of Dutch art,
and the churches, parks, and public ways are attractive and interesting.
Down at the large docks you will find busy scenes; at the Wilhelmina
Kade especially, where the great passenger steamers lie. You will meet
that name Kade wherever you go in the towns of Holland. It means
quay, and the different thoroughfares distinguished by the name are
either quays or else have been quays in times past, and in the course of
the city’s growth have become streets with waterways in them.

You will be impressed with the vast multitude of bridges in Rotterdam.
I do not know that they actually exceed in number the bridges
of Amsterdam; but they appear to, for many can be seen from almost
every point of view. The service of the canal to Holland is manifold,
and this is true in winter as well as in summer. Over the frozen surface
of the canal children skate to school, women skate to their shopping,
and those who have time for recreation skim the icy surfaces from town
to town in skating trips.

THE HAGUE

There are many towns in Holland to invite the traveler, and most of
them will delight him as well. This is especially true of Utrecht, Dordrecht,
and Delft, the last famous the world over for its pottery. It is well,
however, when making a visit to Holland, to save The Hague until the last.

The Hague is the political capital of Holland, and in some ways
the most beautiful and interesting of all Dutch cities. It is a most cosmopolitan
town, and its population includes many distinguished people.
Among the cities of Holland, The Hague leads in culture and refinement,
as Amsterdam and Rotterdam do in commerce. It is, moreover, the
most attractive city. In neatness and in cleanliness it is claimed that
The Hague cannot be excelled by any city in the world. You are
willing to believe that when you are there.

THE HOUSE IN THE WOOD

The full Dutch name of this city of royalty is ’s Graven Hage
(’s grah´-fen hah´-ge), which means “the count’s inclosure.” The name
was given to it originally when it was a richly wooded plain and a hunting
resort of the counts of Holland. It is now the residence of the queen
of Holland and the seat of government, where most of the important
national transactions of the last three hundred years have taken place.
There is no great amount of business at The Hague. It is a place of
important political affairs and of social life and enjoyment. The life
there is distinguished for its gaiety, and the society for its distinction.
Great interest naturally centers in “The House in the Wood,” a most
picturesque château erected in 1645 for Princess Amalia, consort of Prince
Frederick Henry, son of Henry the Silent. This is the favorite home
of royalty. The most interesting apartment in the palace is the Orange
Room, which was prepared by the princess as a memorial to her husband,
and has been the scene of many important diplomatic and social events.
The first International Peace Conference, at which twenty-six powers
were represented, met in this room in the summer of 1899. The House
in the Wood is beautifully furnished and decorated, and, more than the
usual royal residence, it realizes the meaning of the word “home.”

GROOTE KERK, DORDRECHT

This church dates from the fourteenth century. Its tower is two
hundred and thirty feet high

ATTRACTIONS OF THE HAGUE

The population of The Hague is more than 240,000, and it has,
besides The House in the Wood, a number of notable features. There
is the celebrated picture
gallery called the Mauritshuis,
the Municipal
Museum which, next to
the Ryks, is the finest in
Holland, the Mesdag Museum,
which contains
among other art treasures
a fine collection of pictures
by the Barbizon painters,
and the Steengracht Gallery,
which is rich in modern
French and Dutch
paintings. The quaint old
Hall of the Knights will
attract attention for its
historic interest, and so
will the beautiful and imposing
national monument,
which was set up in 1869 to commemorate
the restoration of Dutch
independence and to honor Prince William
Frederick of Orange.

Altogether The Hague is a delight
to the traveler. Thackeray exclaimed
over it, “The brightest little brick city,
with the pleasantest park to ride in, the
neatest, comfortable people walking
about, the canals not unsweet, and busy
and picturesque with life!”

THE CATHEDRAL, UTRECHT

The cathedral was erected in 1254-67. At the
time it was one of the finest and largest
churches in Holland

SCHEVENINGEN

ON THE BEACH, SCHEVENINGEN

It might be Brighton or Margate,
and, except for the swarm of hooded
beach chairs, it might be Coney Island,
this popular seaside resort of Holland.
Most of the features familiar to those
who frequent the sea coast resorts of
other lands are to be found at Scheveningen.
There is the wide, gradually
shelving beach, ceaselessly washed by the rolling surf, crowded with
people of all ages and stations, bobbing in the water, frolicking on the
beach, or sedately seated in the shaded chairs. Back on the beach runs
the long line of hotels and cottages that we find at all great ocean resorts.
The pleasure of playing on the seashore is much the same wherever humanity
is found, and no matter what the locality may be the pleasure
in all places finds pretty much the same forms of expression.

Scheveningen (shay´-ven-ing-en) began its life as a fishing village
away back in 1400. It is situated about three miles from The Hague,
and has been a bathing resort since 1815, growing in popularity and
population until now the annual number of visitors is about 40,000,
chiefly Dutch and German, but including also many Britons and Americans.
The season runs from the first of June to the end of September,
and, just as in the case of other summer resorts, its activities are at their
height about the first of August.

Aside from its many attractions as a summer resort, Scheveningen
has some historic interest. It was from there that Charles II set sail when
he returned to England to assume the crown at the time of the Restoration.
This was in 1660. Thirteen years later that sturdy naval hero Admiral
de Ruyter engaged in a sea battle off Scheveningen, and there defeated
the combined forces of France and England.

DUTCH COUNTRY LIFE AND PEOPLE

For those who would know Holland and the people, no trip would be
complete that merely included a few of the prominent cities. Take your
pack if you care for tramping, or engage a car if you prefer to ride: you
will find the roads good. Then go through the country and meet the people
in their simplest condition. The Dutch farmer has not changed in
several hundred years. He is a thrifty, contented individual, and his life
will interest you. You will find the country families hospitable, and you
will learn much from them that the city Hollanders have not told you.
As you go through the farm districts you will be impressed with the varied
color and the picturesque qualities of everything. And though you may
not be an artist you must, in the course of a sojourn in Holland, feel the
stir of art consciousness.

Aptly indeed has Holland been called “a land of untouched pictures.”

SUPPLEMENTARY READING

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